Volume Seven: Choice (End of Volume)

Since Sky Crane Elder had given it to him, Luo Feng naturally accepted it.

"Twelve invitations." Luo Feng sat in the courtyard, gazing at Rain Ripple City's nightscape with a slight frown. "The other eleven invitations can be set aside. The key one is... Hall Master Yuan Xiang's invitation."

"Of the Three Hall Masters, only Hall Master Yuan Xiang invited me?"

Luo Feng was somewhat puzzled.

This did not match the intelligence he had gathered!

There was no need to mention Hall Master Gai Tao among the Three Hall Masters. He focused on artifact refinement, and the elders around him were all interested in artifact refinement as well. Naturally, he would not take the initiative to invite Luo Feng.

But it was rather strange that Hall Master Wei Yang had not invited him.

"Hall Master Wei Yang loves recruiting elders! Though he joined Rain Ripple City later, he has recruited the largest number of elder-level existences in the entire city! He usually invites any Newly Advanced Elder." Luo Feng pondered. "Yet he didn't invite me!"

There were over seven hundred elder-level experts in the city, and three hundred and twenty-seven had undergone the elder assessment and obtained elder status.

By enthusiastically recruiting numerous elder-level existences, Hall Master Wei Yang had gained the strongest influence in the entire city.

"Just so happens that I don't like Hall Master Wei Yang's way of doing things either," Luo Feng thought.

Those theft and banditry factions all belonged to Hall Master Wei Yang.

I'll go meet Hall Master Yuan Xiang tomorrow! Luo Feng was rather curious about Hall Master Yuan Xiang. The man was Rain Ripple City's City Builder!

As the builder of Rain Ripple City, Hall Master Yuan Xiang's cave residence had originally been the largest in the entire city. Later, however, Hall Master Wei Yang had seized several cave residences and merged them into one, forcibly making his own considerably larger than Hall Master Yuan Xiang's.

Luo Feng arrived at the main entrance of the cave residence.

"God Emperor Luo Feng?" The main gates stood wide open. A lean man stood there, smiling as he looked at Luo Feng. "The Hall Master has long been waiting for you, God Emperor Luo Feng. God Emperor, please follow me."

This lean man wore loose robes, yet the hair covering his body was rather luxuriant.

"Sorry to trouble you, General Earth Three," Luo Feng said politely.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang had three puppets under his command, and each possessed strength comparable to a God Emperor Completion-Level Lowly Primal Chaos Lifeform. In other words, if these three puppets participated in Rain Ripple City's God Emperor rankings, they would all rank among the top fifty.

As expected of the one who built Rain Ripple City. His foundation runs deep—even his servants possess such formidable strength. Luo Feng thought. This was far greater than the foundations of the founding ancestors of the two nations on the Origin Continent.

After proceeding through the cave residence for a while, Luo Feng saw a figure seated on the ground in a garden from afar. The figure looked over with a smile. "Luo Feng, come, sit."

Although Luo Feng had long received intelligence on the man, this was his first time seeing Hall Master Yuan Xiang's true appearance.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang was not particularly handsome, but he naturally exuded endless charm. The moment Luo Feng saw him, he could not help but feel favorably disposed toward him.

"Hall Master, this subordinate shall take his leave," General Earth Three said respectfully.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled and nodded.

Only then did Luo Feng walk over and sit across from Hall Master Yuan Xiang.

"Hall Master Yuan Xiang's aura truly is weak." Seeing the man up close, Luo Feng could sense that even while sitting on the ground, Hall Master Yuan Xiang carried a faint air of exhaustion.

At this level of cultivation, he still felt exhaustion? That was truly inconceivable.

Luo Feng could even sense that the flame of the other party's life was struggling to hold on.

"An old ailment." Hall Master Yuan Xiang personally poured Luo Feng a cup of wine and smiled. "Back then, I went hunting Overlimit-Level Lowly Primal Chaos Lifeforms with several friends. We had hunted them so often that we were used to it. Who would have thought that one Overlimit-Level Primal Chaos Lifeform would actually break through, becoming a High-Tier Primal Chaos Lifeform?"

"After encountering a High-Tier Primal Chaos Lifeform at close range, I became like this." Hall Master Yuan Xiang sighed.

"There's no way to resolve the contamination?" Luo Feng asked.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled at Luo Feng. "According to the records and experience of the Dark Holy World, only by having one's Mind Will transcend the Cage can one cast off this contamination. That is the only way to escape it."

When facing a High-Tier Primal Chaos Lifeform, they had died on the spot.

As Source World powerhouses, even the avatars in their home Source Worlds shared their memories and had been contaminated as well. Clearly, that High-Tier Primal Chaos Lifeform had possessed intense killing intent and wanted to completely kill these cultivators.

Fortunately, Hall Master Yuan Xiang had the protection of his Source World, as well as a secret technique safeguarding his Mind Will, allowing him to barely preserve his life.

"From then on, I could only devote myself to studying Mind Will cultivation." Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled. "And because I was too bored, I exchanged my Merit Points and applied to build a city in the Nine Rivers Holy World. That city is Rain Ripple City."

Luo Feng listened.

The Merit Points needed to build a city were extremely high. Hall Master Yuan Xiang had clearly been immensely powerful before, and had accumulated an enormous amount of Merit Points. After being contaminated, the strength he displayed during the city's construction was still a notch above Hall Master Wei Yang's.

The reason he ranked second in the city was because, under the contamination, merely maintaining his clarity of mind was already difficult. Naturally, he would avoid acting whenever possible. Nor did he have any interest in fighting for power and profit.

On one side was Hall Master Yuan Xiang, who did not fight for power or profit and almost never acted.

On the other was Hall Master Wei Yang, who recruited powerhouses from every side and often took action. Naturally, Hall Master Wei Yang's influence was greater.

"I heard that Hall Master Yuan Xiang rarely invites God Emperors," Luo Feng said. "Why did you invite me this time, Hall Master?"

"You are different."

Hall Master Yuan Xiang looked at Luo Feng. "After you defeated Sky Crane Elder yesterday, I asked the two God Emperors from your Origin Continent about you in the Dark Holy World."

Luo Feng was startled.

He had asked the two God Emperors of the Origin Continent in the Dark Holy World? The founding ancestors of the two nations?

"Though my strength has weakened now, I still have some standing," Hall Master Yuan Xiang said with a smile. "When I found the two of them, they briefly told me about you."

"In just over a thousand epochs, you went from an Eternal True God to a God Emperor Early-Stage."

"Then, in another thousand-plus epochs, you went from God Emperor Early-Stage to God Emperor Late-Stage! You even suppressed Sky Crane Elder." Hall Master Yuan Xiang looked at Luo Feng. "You are far stronger than I was in my youth."

Luo Feng was secretly shocked.

The other party knew all of his information.

"I bear no hostility toward you." Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled. "Now, I'm merely dragging out a miserable existence. It is far too difficult for one's Mind Will to transcend the Cage. I do not even know whether there is hope for me in this life."

"But Rain Ripple City was built by my own hand. I can sense that the Lowly Primal Chaos Lifeform race is infiltrating Rain Ripple City more and more deeply." Hall Master Yuan Xiang looked at Luo Feng. "I worry that Rain Ripple City may be breached one day. When that happens, the hundreds of millions of cultivators in the city will face a terrifying calamity."

Luo Feng nodded.

Cities were built, and cities were destroyed.

"I know Wei Yang's nature. He is extremely selfish." Hall Master Yuan Xiang shook his head. "He came to Rain Ripple City to obtain resources. Once the situation turns bad, he will only flee for his own life."

"I built this city. The hundreds of millions of cultivators who came here also share karma with me." Hall Master Yuan Xiang said, "I do not wish to see hundreds of millions of cultivators perish beneath a great calamity!"

"That is why I invited you here."

Hall Master Yuan Xiang looked at Luo Feng. "Your talent is not something Wei Yang and the others can compare to! Once you grow stronger, your strength alone will surpass all the elders working together!"

"Once your strength is sufficient, I can transfer the greatest authority of the 'City Builder' to you." Hall Master Yuan Xiang looked at Luo Feng.

"The City Builder's authority?" Luo Feng was surprised.

"That's right. I set the rules within the city." Hall Master Yuan Xiang looked at Luo Feng. "I am willing to give Hall Master Wei Yang greater benefits now in order to bind him to the city. I can also choose to reduce his benefits."

"Of course, your strength must surpass both Wei Yang and Gai Tao," Hall Master Yuan Xiang said.

"What level of strength counts as surpassing the two of them?" Luo Feng asked.

"They are both Half Primal Chaos Enlightenment Seekers, and their accumulations run deep. They also possess quite a few treasures." Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled. "To thoroughly surpass them, you must at least cultivate two Paths concurrently, with both Paths reaching the Half Primal Chaos level. Then... I can hand the City Builder's authority over to you."

Master two Paths at the Half Primal Chaos level?

His Life and Destruction were only at God Emperor Mid-Stage now, while his Life-Death Path was still at God Emperor Early-Stage.

"I'm still quite far from that," Luo Feng said.

"With your talent, it will not take long." Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled. "I have encountered exceptional talents like yours in the Dark Holy World. I believe that within ten thousand epochs, you will reach that step."

When Hall Master Yuan Xiang had been in perfect condition, he had already been a peerless powerhouse whose might shook an entire region in the Dark Holy World.

If the founding ancestors of the two nations were considered to stand at the bottom of the Dark Holy World—

Then Hall Master Yuan Xiang had already stood among its upper ranks!

"Hall Master, you truly have faith in me," Luo Feng said.

With a flip of his hand, Hall Master Yuan Xiang passed Luo Feng a spatial bracelet and smiled. "A small gift for our first meeting."

The spatial bracelet was ownerless. With a single thought, Luo Feng could send his senses inside.

The instant he did...

Luo Feng was somewhat dazed.

Inside the spatial bracelet were mountains of Primal Chaos Crystals. They were not individual crystals, but Primal Chaos Crystals cut into large chunks. A single such large chunk of Primal Chaos Crystal could be worth ten thousand Primal Chaos Crystals.

"Five billion Primal Chaos Crystals?" Luo Feng was somewhat dazed.

"Just a small gift." Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled. "Not worth mentioning."

After thinking it over, Luo Feng still reached out and accepted it.

This gift carried great weight.

Accepting it meant owing him a great favor! Yet for his current self, these five billion Primal Chaos Crystals were immensely important.

Seeing Luo Feng accept it, Hall Master Yuan Xiang smiled and nodded. "For now, you need only cultivate in peace. There is no need to involve yourself too much in the city's other affairs."

Luo Feng nodded. "Thank you, Hall Master."

After watching Luo Feng depart.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang's emotions were complicated.

"The contamination keeps seeping in and tormenting me, affecting me more and more deeply. I do not know when I will completely collapse and my consciousness will be annihilated." Hall Master Yuan Xiang felt rather powerless. "Before I die, I should do something for the hundreds of millions of cultivators."

Having lived in Rain Ripple City for so long, he had ultimately developed feelings for it.

He knew that it was difficult for a city to exist forever. But he hoped Rain Ripple City could endure for as long as possible.

In Luo Feng, he saw hope.

"Hall Master, the cultivator 'Qu Feng God Emperor' of Cave Residence 331297 in Cloud Nine District of the outer city is suspected of being controlled by a Lowly Primal Chaos Lifeform." A voice sounded beside Hall Master Yuan Xiang's ear.

"Monitor all of Qu Feng God Emperor's movements within the city and everyone he associates with," Hall Master Yuan Xiang ordered. "Do your best to find more infiltrators."

"Yes." The voice replied respectfully.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang felt mentally exhausted.

The Lowly Primal Chaos Lifeform race possessed all manner of talents. Even after exhausting every method, Hall Master Yuan Xiang could not prevent some Lowly Primal Chaos Lifeforms from infiltrating the city.

Those who infiltrated to slaughter others did not concern Hall Master Yuan Xiang much! What worried him... were those who remained hidden without taking action. Once those infiltrators erupted, the trouble would be immense.

Luo Feng was also returning to his own cave residence at this moment.

"By accepting this gift, I've effectively chosen a side among Rain Ripple City's three Hall Masters." Luo Feng looked at the spatial bracelet on his wrist and smiled. Based on the intelligence he knew, he had already been more inclined toward Hall Master Yuan Xiang.

"Within ten thousand epochs, I'll reach that realm? The Hall Master thinks so highly of me?"

Luo Feng smiled as he flew into his cave residence.

(End of Volume)

Tomorrow, he would rest for a day. The day after tomorrow, a new volume would begin.